Tracking the market and economic trends that shape your finances.

Southern California housing market stalls in September

Southern California’s housing market stalled in September as sales were essentially flat over the same month a year earlier and the region's median price fell.

Sales increased 0.3% from the same month a year earlier, when the market was reeling from the effect of an expired tax credit that had boosted sales for much of the year.

With 18,149 homes sold across the six-county region, September's tally was 24% below the average for that month going back to 1988, according to real estate research firm DataQuick of San Diego.

The median price for the region fell 5.2% from the same month a year earlier to $280,000. That was essentially flat from August, up 0.4%. It was the seventh month in a row that the region's median home price fell on a year-over-year basis.

Photo: The Antelope Valley has been especially hard hit by the foreclosure crisis.